by Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press

by Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's prosecutors on Thursday indicted 15 crew members over last month's ferry sinking, four of them on homicide charges, in a disaster has left more than 300 people dead or missing.

Prosecutors said they brought homicide charges against the ship's captain and three other crew members because they failed to carry out their duties to protect passengers in need, which led to their deaths. If convicted, they could face up to death penalty, according to Supreme Court.

Eleven others were indicted for alleged negligence and abandoning passengers in need when the ship sank on April 16, according to prosecutors. The indictment was filed Thursday in Gwangju District Court and the trial date will be decided in a few days, according to a court official who requested anonymity due to department rules.

The 15 crew members, all involved in the ship's navigation, were the first group of people rescued when the Sewol was badly listing that day.

Capt. Lee Joon-seok initially told passengers to stay in their cabins and took about half an hour to issue an evacuation order but it's not known if his message was conveyed to passengers. In a video taken by the coast guard, he was seen escaping the ferry in his underwear to a rescue boat while many passengers were still in the sinking ship.

Lee told reporters after his arrest that he withheld the evacuation order because rescuers had yet to arrive and he feared for the passengers' safety in the cold, swift water.

About one month after the sinking, 281 bodies have been retrieved but 23 others were still listed as missing. Underwater searches for the bodies have been hampered by strong currents and bad weather. Family members of the missing passengers are still camping out at a nearby port waiting for the news of their loved ones.

Most of the victims are students from a single high school near Seoul, who were travelling to the southern tourist island of Jeju for a school trip.

The sinking, one of the deadliest disaster in South Korea's modern history, has triggered outpouring of national grief with more than 1.8 million people having reportedly paid respects at makeshift mourning stations across the country. The government has been under mounting public criticism for its handling of the disaster. Officials also have repeatedly corrected the number of people aboard the ship and who were rescued.